Nationalism in Heart of Europe Needles EU

Grinning cheerfully as he swipes his mop neatly across the glass front of an optician's shop, Sandor the window cleaner tells me he doesn't think much of Hungary's ruling Fidesz party, BBC reported.

"They may say the economy's thriving but we don't feel it," he says. "The one thing they do right is to keep the migrants out."

Not far away, at Hungary's southern border, the wind whips across the steppe, flattens the grass and whistles right up against the vast metal intricacy of Prime Minister Viktor Orban's border fence.

Few try to cross it these days. Even so a security patrol crawls, rather menacingly, along its barbed perimeter.

What is, for some, all about internal security, also represents this country's decision to prioritise national interest above that of the EU. It's a symbol of defiance.

It's also a vote winner.

Politics and the migrant crisis
"By the end of 2014 the popularity of Fidesz had dropped dramatically and they tried everything. There was no stone left unturned to get this popularity back," says Mark Kekesi, a human rights activist.

In spring 2015 the wave of refugees and migrants entering Central Europe via Hungary came as a kind of heavenly gift to Mr Orban and many other politicians in the region. They could exaggerate the potential immigration threats and then appear as saviours.

Hungary, of course, wasn't alone in its opposition. It decided, along with Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, to reject EU migrant quotas, angering Brussels and earning the so-called Visegrad Four (V4) a reputation as the union's troublemakers.

But their resistance has shone a light on a profound and dangerous division within the club. Not so much a...